Brexit has left government a 'bit worn out', Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat says
Tom Tugendhat says voters will probably want "change" post-Brexit - and the Tories need to "come forward and be that change".
Sunday 11 November 2018 14:53, UK
A senior Conservative MP has said voters will likely want a change at the top once Brexit is sorted out - and it is "hardly surprising" the government has become a "bit worn out" by negotiating Britain's exit from Europe.
Tom Tugendhat, who is seen by many as a future Tory leadership candidate, told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday that he was "waiting to see what deal the prime minister brings back".
But he added: "I haven't made any great secret of the fact that I would consider running for my party leadership at some point."
Theresa May is trying to secure an exit deal with Brussels and get it through parliament in time for when Britain leaves in March 2019.
One element of the near-constant speculation about the PM's leadership is the suggestion that the Conservatives should "skip a generation" and pick a fresh face to succeed Mrs May.
Proponents argue this would allow someone untainted by the battles over Brexit to reinvigorate the party and take on Jeremy Corbyn and Labour ahead of the next election, scheduled for 2022.
Mr Tugendhat, who is chair of the foreign affairs select committee, is viewed as among that "next generation".
He was at pains to point out that his motivation for running would not be personal gain and advancement, but to "change the country".
"For me the whole point of this is not to be an individual but to be a team," he said.
"If there's one thing soldiering taught me, it's that as individuals we don't achieve very much."
Mr Tugendhat said the party has an "amazing" team, mentioning MPs like James Cleverly, Johnny Mercer, Rishi Sunak and Lucy Frazer.
"And if we get the right people in the team then actually the leadership becomes, not academic, but certainly only an expression of that," he said.
"That's what we've got to get to, we've got to get a really strong Conservative team, forward, arguing for the future of the country, arguing for a positive future, arguing for a future that includes everybody in our community and really values the work that so many do, from the young to the old."
Mr Tugendhat's praise of the newer intakes of Tory MPs was in stark contrast to his comments about the current government.
When asked if it appeared tired and consumed by Brexit, he said: "I think it's the nature of any major struggle that it consumes those who are engaged in it. We know this.
"Whether you look at a merger or an acquisition or any sort of major operation in the military or whatever it is.
"You always find that those who have really focused in on it, who had to really do nothing but that for a long period of time, tend to get a bit worn out. And that's hardly surprising.
"But it's a credit to those who are engaged in the debate at the moment that they are devoting every inch of energy, every bit of energy in order to try to bring forward the best outcome for the British people."
Mr Tugendhat said voters will probably want "change" once Brexit is dealt with, and "it's for the Conservative Party to come forward and be that change".
Meanwhile, the cabinet seems to be at odds over the issue of the backstop, the insurance policy designed to avoid a return to a hard border on the island of Ireland.
Education Secretary Damian Hinds said it would be "very, very unlikely" the UK could secure a unilateral exit from it, while Commons leader Andrea Leadsom said that move must remain an option.